Up for Debate: Graphic photos of NYC shooting

Created 08/24/2012 - 4:40pm

Two people were killed and several others were injured following a shooting outside of the Empire State Building in New York Friday morning. In the process of reporting on the shooting, The New York Times ran a graphic photo of one of those shot dead on a sidewalk — a submitted photo that showed blood spilling from the apparent targeted victim of the shooting. Click here[1]for a Poynter article discussing the choice to publish the photos, complete with an explanation from the paper. The Times also ran a photo, though more abstract, of the suspected shooter, who had been shot and killed by authorities. Reuters also ran a slideshow of similar photos on its website Friday.

What are your thoughts on the decisions to publish these photos? Do they add to the public discourse (on gun control, for example), or simply grab attention? Does publishing the photos do a disservice to the dead and their families? Would you have published them?